Max Verstappen is in the form of his life and is dominating F1 in sensational style. From the start to the finish flag, the Dutchman completed a flawless triumph in the climax of the 2021 Grand Prix double header at the Red Bull Ring. Austrian racing team Red Bull Racing were celebrating the stunning double home win in front of a dream backdrop at Spielberg consisting of a total of 132,000 spectators over the weekend. The first major sporting event in Austria to feature a full house in a long time allowed the fans to enjoy a thrilling showdown packed with fierce battles. Mercedes took second place with Valtteri Bottas while McLaren completed the podium with Lando Norris.
Having started alongside Max Verstappen on the front row, Lando Norris raced to a strong start, but the world championship leader saw off the attack and maintained his lead superbly. Behind them there were some turbulent scenes after an early safety car. After qualifying in third, Sergio Pérez was sent into gravel and the Mercedes duo pushed in the direction of the podium. The Mexican had a battle with Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc that was on a knife edge. All the goings-on behind him had no impact on Verstappen, who raced away to a double win at the Red Bull Ring with the fastest lap (1:06.200 minutes) to extend his world championship lead. With his fourth win in a Grand Prix in Austria, Max Verstappen made history by beating Alain Prost to become the new record winner at Spielberg. The orange volcano in Spielberg in the shape of tens of thousands of ecstatic Dutch fans kept on erupting long after the chequered flag was flown.
Max Verstappen (NED / Red Bull Racing): “The car was so good it was almost surreal. I had fun racing with every tyre. I‘m a little astonished myself about how perfectly it worked. Everyone in the team has done an incredible job. What we delivered today does not happen by chance. The last two weeks were incredible. To see so much orange here gave me huge amounts of motivation. On the last lap I looked up to the grandstands and just saw a cloud of orange – fantastic!”
Valtteri Bottas (FIN / Mercedes): “They are good points for the team. I went one place better than last week. We really got the maximum out of it considering how far we are off the pace of Red Bull. Lando was really fast and put the pressure on. We have a lot of work ahead of us!”
Lando Norris (GBR / McLaren): “A big thank you goes out to the fans. I had a lot of fun, but I am a little bit disappointed too. The race was good, and second place was possible. It did me good to be able to battle Mercedes and Red Bull for the top spots again after such a long time.“
Dr. Helmut Marko (Red Bull Racing motorsport advisor): “It makes me very proud to have won twice in Austria. Now we are going to the Mercedes fortress in Silverstone to win there too!”
When the Flying Bulls are putting on a spectacular air show over the Red Bull Ring with their impressive sound, fans in the know are aware that the start to the F1 race in Austria is nearly upon us. The unique and emotional show with a sea of Austrian flags, while the Red Bull Skydive Team flew in with the Austrian national flag, created a spine-tingling moment for the first time in a long time at Spielberg on Sunday. There were once again breathtaking images going around the world from Austria. Ensuring a musical highlight were Martin Grubinger and the MyGroove World Band with an extremely rocky drums and guitar version of the Austrian national anthem.
Numerous famous sportspeople and celebrities were among the fans at Spielberg for the climax of this year’s Grand Prix double header. Among them were Marcel Hirscher, Dominic Thiem, Franco Foda, Robby Naish, Oliver Pocher, Timo Werner, Konrad Laimer, Ryoyu Kobayashi, Dominik Landertinger, Johannes Lamparter, Fabio Wibmer and Clemens Millauer. Austrian band Folkshilfe sang the Red Bull Flugtag song, Wir heben heid o. The band members, who are ambassadors for the big event, celebrated with Red Bull Racing, whose year also took off with the fantastic double home win!
One Grand Prix may be over but there is another Grand Prix to look forward to! The excitement after the 2021 double header at the Red Bull Ring is still there, but we can already start looking forward to the next Grand Prix – the Formula 1 Großer Preis von Österreich 2022. Tickets for the comeback of the Holiday Grand Prix in the heart of Austria from 8 to 10 July 2022* with side event highlights on and around the Austrian racing circuit can be purchased by fans from 16 July 2021.
*) Subject to changes